you are the most wonderful gift to me and your father ... this jasmine, is for you, my dear...

Friday, 4 July 2008

The bugs strike again

Just before last weekend, DD and DH started huffing and puffing. Oh dear, it’s the runny nose season again in my household. DD spent almost the entire Sunday afternoon sleeping, which was very uncharacteristic of her. You see, she usually resists any effort to make her take the afternoon nap.

YM wasn’t spared either. First I had the chill; then I started coughing sporadically. But I was back on my feet within a couple of days.

DD is not so lucky. From runny nose, she went on to develop coughs, and then mild temperatures. It got worse 2 days ago. Yesterday she missed school. She was miserable, so I finally decided to take her to the doctor (she had been using her left over medications during the past few days).

Dr Patrick thought she didn’t look that bad. In fact, she was quite cheerful in the doctor’s office, opening her mouth wide and saying ‘Aaa, aaa’ without much persuasion. Dr Patrick gave her the medications for fever, flu and cough. I told him that my DD didn’t complete the antibiotics that he gave last month. He went “Oh oh” and jotted it down in his record book. I felt bad, but my DD really hated the antibiotics. It was hard to force her to take it and after 3 days of cajoling, threatening, persuading, promising her the earth and the moon and what nots, I finally gave up. I know, antibiotics should always, always, always be taken completely.

While waiting for her prescription to be filled, I asked DD what she would like to eat. She requested for bubur ayam McDonalds. We then went to the nearest McD outlet to our house. It is located on the NKVE, next to a Petronas station, but we have a ‘back door’ access to it from our housing estate. We have to park our car at the apartment block nearby and climb a few stairs to get to the station, but it’s okay, because we get to save on the toll and petrol. Sometimes it does feel strange though, in that one moment we’re driving in our quiet neighbourhood, and a few staircases later, we’re at a Petronas station on a busy highway.

Anyway, the porridge cost me RM3.15. I took out 3 RM1 notes, 1 10 sen coin and 5 1 sen coins to pay the cashier. He looked at my hand with some sort of bewilderment. Then he said to me:

He took it but he didn’t look convinced. His colleague passed by a few seconds later. He asked the colleague if the 1 sen coins should be accepted and the colleague confirmed that they do accept the coins. I smiled and cancelled my plan to write to the Star to complain about a well known fast food outlet not accepting 1 sen coins (okay I like to pick an argument).

At home, my DD finished the porridge and took her medications. The cough syrup made her groggy; she slept for most part of the afternoon. Her temperature went up last night and the coughs worsened. She only got her relief after we gave her the medicines.

She’s still staying at home today. She was quite miserable in the morning, but now, after getting a phone call from DH, she’s showing some enthusiasm. She’s pestering me to allow her to use the computer, so I shall sign off now.